The present invention relates to a method for collecting blood or other fluids from an organ or tissue through a vessel. The method according to the invention is used in the biological, medical and veterinary field for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes and for research purposes to collect blood or other fluids from organs or parts of organs or tissues. In particular, the method according to the invention is used to collect placental blood, that is to say, the blood that is present in the placenta, during childbirth, directly after the birth of the neonate.
In the biological, medical and veterinary fields it is necessary to collect fluids, particularly blood, from organs or tissues or containers in general, both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes and for research purposes. Two non-limitative examples are: 1. the collection of blood from masses of tumoral tissue, since the blood contained in the tumoral tissue is potentially useful for therapeutic purposes after appropriate treatment; 2. the collection of blood from the placenta during childbirth directly after cutting the umbilical cord. In this second case, the blood is useful since it contains stem cells, which are hematopoietic precursor cells, that is to say, cells which are capable of reconstituting the hematopoietic system and therefore can be used, if the need arises, for transplanting to the same donor or to another compatible recipient.
The procedures currently used to collect placental blood from an umbilical cord are described hereinafter as a typical example of the recovery of fluids from an organ; it is important to note that the reference to this practice is not limitative and is merely an example of situations in which it is necessary to collect blood or another fluid from tissues, organs or other containers in general.
Placental blood from the umbilical cord is collected because it contains hematopoietic stem cells which can be used for transplants. To allow the collected blood and therefore the recovered cells to be truly and successfully usable, the following conditions must be met: 1. the largest possible amount of blood, that is to say, the highest possible number of cells, must be recovered; 2. the collected blood, which is fetal in origin, must not be contaminated by foreign cell populations, such as for example maternal cells; 3. during collection, contact of the blood with the outside (air or other potentially contaminated objects) must be minimized, or the collection procedure must occur in sterile conditions, possibly in a closed environment; 4. the possibility of human error must be minimized.